The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp switch. In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle lamp switch that operates in a contactless manner to control operation of the vehicle headlamps, parking lamps, and fog lamps.
A typical vehicle lamp switch includes a rotary control having at least three positions: all (parking lamps and headlamps) OFF, parking lamps ON, and all ON. The lamp switch may also incorporate an autolamp function, and two pull-on functions for turning ON fog lamps. The typical lamp switch includes mechanically engageable contacts for controlling all these functions.
Also known in other applications are contactless switches. Such switches may operate by rotating a magnet past a fixed magnetic sensor, such as a Hall effect IC or a magnetoresistive sensor. It is also known to make a contactless switch that operates using the Wiegand effect.
The present invention is an apparatus comprising a switch for controlling operation of lamps of a vehicle. The switch comprises a base, and a manually engageable assembly rotatable about an axis relative to the base for controlling operation of the vehicle lamps. The assembly comprises a magnetic member that rotates with the assembly about the axis. The base comprises at least one magnetic sensor and control circuitry connecting the one magnetic sensor with the vehicle lamps. The magnetic member is rotatable about the axis into a plurality of different rotational positions relative to the one magnetic sensor to provide an output signal at the control circuitry that is indicative of the relative rotational position of the assembly. The magnetic member is spaced apart from the base to provide contactless operation of the switch.